Inventor of Chicken Changezi passes away

New Delhi: Mohammed Fazil, the man who invented Chicken Changezi, passed away at his residence in old Delhi on Friday. He was 80.

Fazil, also known as Munney Pahalwan or simply Pehelwan, trained to be a bodybuilder who won honours at the Mr Delhi competition in the early 1970s. He competed in events in Delhi and also went to the Gulf before returning home and starting a dhaba in Churiwalan, a mohalla in the Mughal-era walled city. The restaurant catered to the labourers. 

A hard worker, Fazil came across the rotisserie in Dubai in the early 1990s. The equipment was new to Delhi back then. Using that to grill the chicken and putting that chicken into a blend of spices -- his own concoction -- Fazil served out a chicken dish off his tawa that immediately caught the fancy of the residents of the walled city in an era when Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Qorma and Butter Chicken were the only forms of chicken popular in Delhi. The fame of the latest food item spread and the New Delhiwallas also couldn't stop noticing it.

The name Chicken Changezi was given after the 12th-13th century Mongol military ruler Genghis Khan (known as Changez Khan in Urdu and Hindi), who conquered the entire central Asia and Persia. His chicken, true to the name, conquered a million palettes.

By early 2000s, the dish found its name on the menu of various restaurants in Delhi and several cities of the country. It also spread overseas, especially to the Gulf.

Fazil was laid to rest on Friday afternoon at the graveyard in Mehendiyan that lies just behind the Maulana Azad Medical College.

Tags : Chicken, Inventor, Bodybuilder, Food, Delhi 6, Chicken Changezi, old Delhi